Blogs and Commentary

Monday Notebook: NCAA Division III

The program had its first seven-game losing streak since 1951, a
year when it went 0-7. For the first time since the advent of the
NESCAC tournament, it won't qualify for the top eight. For the
first time in a long time, it's likely to go without an
All-American on the roster.

"This is a season unlike any other that I've been a part of as a
player or coach," said Middlebury head coach Dave Campbell, who has
a national championship ring as a goalie with the Panthers.

How does one of the most recognizable programs in Division III
stumble to a 3-9 record after being as high as No. 4 in the country
earlier this spring?

"It's not one thing and it's not one person," Campbell said.
"It's a lot of different factors that came together. We just
weren't ready for our NESCAC and out of league schedule this year.
We weren't quite ready to take that on for whatever reason. It
taught us a harsh lesson, and maybe we need to prepare a little bit
more in the offseason or start a little bit earlier. But again,
there is really nothing we can do about it now. It wasn't because
we didn't have good senior leadership, or the captains, or this guy
or that guy. It's just a lot of different factors and we never got
it going early."

Early wasn't the problem. The Panthers started with a 2-1
record, but a stunning, 14-5 loss to Springfield exposed Middlebury
to what was waiting. A 15-5 loss to Cortland set in motion the
seven-game skein that included setbacks to six consecutive
conference teams.

Middlebury was undoubtedly hurt by the absence of All-American
close defender Matt Rayner for the majority of the year. Suffering
an ankle injury during the football season, Rayner has played in
just a quarter of the games this season. In addition, the Panthers
didn't have the services of John McGoldrick, who posted a 28-point
campaign (17g, 11a) last spring but did not return for his
sophomore season.

Campbell isn't interested in those factors.

"Would we have been better with those guys? Absolutely," he
said. "But we're not going to make excuses. We had the team that we
had and the group of guys we had. I don't think anyone was saying,
'Oh, we don't have those guys and we're not going to be
successful.' We just missed some opportunities and it's as simple
of that. We would have better with those guys, but we were fully
capable of doing better than we did. I don't know what we would
have done differently, but it's not an excuse for how we've
done."

Campbell has been blessed to this point. He had won 73 percent
(65-24) of the games he coached at Middlebury heading into this
season. Like many coaches who have tough seasons, he has taken
solace in the little things.

"The biggest thing I've learned is you get up the next morning,"
Campbell said. "As much as it hurts walking off the field, we all
learn that you move on. You're persistent and keep working hard.
I've just been so impressed with the guys buying into our program
and caring about each other and not letting anything slide. I
haven't questioned one guy about their heart or whether they are
into it when they show up for practice after a loss. You don't want
go through something like this, but it has taught me how resilient
people can be and how resilient our team has been."

The Panthers managed to pick up an impressive 18-4 win over
Skidmore midweek, but an 11-10 loss to Colby on Saturday knocked
Middlebury out of NESCAC tourney, and there is just a meaningless
game against Williams – another team that will not make the
postseason – remaining.

Teams in the NESCAC should enjoy this Panther-less spring,
because with a program like Middlebury, things are likely to return
to normal next year.

- Kenyon made Denison sweat for 30 minutes. The Lords held a 5-4
lead at halftime against the Big Red before succumbing in the
second half, 11-6, but Kenyon has likely already won the game they
needed to get into the NCAA tournament. With the 11-9 victory over
Ohio Wesleyan on April 14, the Lords gave themselves the victory
they needed to jump clear of Whittier for the final Pool B
bid.

If Kenyon does get into the tourney, they'll be a miserable
match-up for someone (probably either Denison or Ohio Wesleyan in
the first round). Will Lowe (13g, 23a), Chris Pappalardo (13g, 20a)
and Geoff Akie (20g, 12a) give the Lords a trio of playmakers and
the defense, with the exception of the Roanoke game, has been
solid.

- St. Vincent's Will DeLanoy became the school's all-time
scoring leader in the Bearcats victory over Thiel last week. With a
five-point afternoon, he surpassed Ian Poole's previous record of
223 points...with a 10-point midweek performance against Thiel,
Washington & Jefferson's Andrew Wallick became the school's
all-time leading points man. Wallick passed Zach Devilbiss '09, who
had the previous record of 170...Goucher continues to cruise right
along. The Gophers are now 14-1 after beating Scranton...if
McDaniel can beat Swarthmore next weekend, the Green Terror will
grab the final spot in the Centennial over both F&M and
Haverford...if Clarkson can beat Vassar next weekend, the Knights
will get the final spot in the Liberty over RPI. Clarkson is not
going to be a fun match-up, as they showed when No. 2 Cortland
barely escaped the North Country with an 8-6 win.

They've been flying under the radar after an 0-3 start to the
season, but the Camels of Conn. College are now 8-5 and 5-4 in the
NESCAC...Plattsburgh punched its ticket to the four-team SUNYAC
tourney with an overtime victory against Brockport...Utica's Ben
Winkler broke the single-season goal mark after pouring in seven
against Elmira. Winkler now has 52 on the season...Lycoming snapped
Albright's seven-game winning streak. The Lions are still 13-2 and
atop the MAC however...the players on both Cabrini and Neumann
teams wore a sticker with the letters "RM" on the back of their
helmets in remembrance of Randy Mills, who started both
programs...nice midweek win for Wheaton over Babson...the War on
the Shore isn't quite back yet. Salisbury hammered WAC, 17-5.